Being able to talk with some of the staff, designers and models I was able to get some behind the scenes footage of what it’s like in the fashion industry. The event featured multiple talented pieces by local and world renowned designers and span over a two day period.
Here’s Day One.
BRIGHTSIDE X LOCAL LAUNDRY @locallaundry
Local Laundry wants to be Canada’s best company at building community through their five guiding pillars: representing where you come from; sharing stories from the community; collaborating with others who also want to have a positive impact; giving back through local charities; and producing Canadian-made clothing. Local Laundry has committed to donating 10% of their profits to local charities that their customers help choose. They produce only made-in-Canada garments to support Canadian manufacturing, Canadian jobs, a diversified Canadian economy and to reduce our carbon footprint. Local Laundry was founded in 2015 as a way to use clothing to bring people together while creating a positive impact on the community. At PARKSHOW 2019 Local Laundry will be collaborating with Brightside, a new mobile banking app, on some custom pieces. Brightside is excited to debut their design collaboration with Local Laundry on the runway, which will inspire the look their Brightside team will wear out and about in Alberta as they get closer to launching their new mobile banking app later this year.
Interview with Adam Newman
SIMONS @maisonsimons x LEVAVALIER
ODEYALO @odeyaloclothing #mtlstyle
SLOW FASHION: Odeyalo is considered a slow fashion brand because they offer garments that fit perfectly in a minimalist wardrobe. They prefer creating a refined and functional and quality assortment to an overabundance of clothing.
TRANSPARENCY: Odeyalo has nothing to hide, which means they try their best not to keep the details of their production a secret. Odeyalo tries to get their fabrics from local companies, and try to be as fair as possible with their prices.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN: Odeyalo tries to use fabrics in the most efficient way, offering their scraps to local companies that make underwear or children’s toys.
LOCAL PRODUCTION: Because it is important for Odeyalo to stimulate local employment and invest in their own city, Odeyalo’s entire production is made in Montreal by independent seamstresses. Therefore, they make every garment in small quantities with the greatest attention to detail.
Interview with Kyler Stern
WRK DEPT @wrkdept #mtlstyle
WRKDEPT is the creative offspring of Montreal’s Andy Long Hoang and Tinashe Musara, who each have backgrounds in photography and visual arts and share a mixed Vietnamese-Zimbabwean-Canadian heritage. Their whimsical, unpredictable design philosophy embraces all manner of cultural, historical, and ethnological influences to create collections of clothing that express distinct forms, shapes, and attitudes adapted from their source material. Made specifically as ready-to-wear street clothing, WRKDEPT’s collections both merge and completely blur any notions separating masculine and feminine sensibilities.
LIAM LAFRANCE @liamlafrance
Liam Lafrance is currently a student in his third year studying. Graphic Communications Management at Ryerson University, minoring in Fashion studies maintaining a 4.0 GPA.
The aesthetic is modern and nonchalant in a way that bridges the gap between contemporary street-wear and high fashion. Inspired by skate culture and influenced by hip-hop, the Made in Canada demographic is as diverse as the country it represents. This brand is made for those interested less in following trends, and more in defining what is next. The brand is calibrated to appeal to consumers with medium incomes and high fashion awareness, who will pay for quality and sustainability.
SUKA @sukaclothing
This season, Suka infuses 90’s grunge, metal and punk culture into bohemian silhouettes and detailing. In collaboration with Heath Smith from Righthand Tattoos, the collection offers bold prints and hardware that give a unique perspective to the cool girl’s bold point of view, challenging conventionality and perspective when it comes to a summer wardrobe offering transitional pieces for separate occasions.
ALEX S. YU @alex.s.yu
ALEX S. YU creates colourful and minimal garments that explore the fi ne line between reality and fantasy for womenswear, menswear and unisex wears. His aesthetics rollick the happy emotions of childhood, nostalgia and wanderlust; and ponder the very definition of femininity in a modern, quirky way through garments. ALEX S. YU plays with proportions, colour blocking and unusual silhouettes while mixing and using different colours and fabric weights in one garment. He designs his own original prints or collaborates with various artists from the graphic design or visual arts field to create original prints for his collection.
Interview with Leah Beauchesne
S.P. BADU @spbadu
S.P. BADU’s collections are a continuous case study on the friction between gender and clothing. Their main objective is to create wardrobe staples, challenge gender perception, and garment creation. Initially, the brand was created due to lack of representation as well as a void in the market for genderless clothing. Instead of complaining about the issue, S.P. BADU is interested in rethinking the fashion industry, creating spaces that are radically inclusive, creating clothing and unorthodox ideas that are mobilized by our community. Creating a modern utopia for the anti-conformist. As an independent brand with a small budget S.P. BADU is grateful to the community and supporters.
Interview with Zoe Honsinger